Over the next few weeks there are several Ancient coin auctions crossing the block and each will offer great selections. In this and subsequent postings I'll give you a quick overview of what's coming your way in Ancient coins during May and June 2009.

First up is the Numismatik Lanz Munich Auction 146 set to close on May 25th. The first half of this sale, nearly 700 lots, is all ancinet coins. They come from a variety of areas and cultures and span a broad value range, allowing for most any collector to find something of interest. Of special interest should be the long run of about 16 gold Hekte's from Mytilene, the capital city on the Greek Island of Lesbos. This is a big group of these little 2.5g nuggets and more than I have normally seen in any other sale of late. It presents itself as a fine study group and a good opportunity for anyone considering building a Lesbos collection.

In the Roman section of theDomitilla Denar, mixed in with a a large selection of high grade and reasonably estimated material. There is a nice run of Denar of Caracalla all in XF condition with estimates arround 200 Euro. The same can be said for the selection of Severus Alexander, and several others, so opportunity awaits the careful buyer.

For those interested in later date material there are several pages of Byzantine coins, including nearly 20 gold pieces. The second half of the sale features an equally large number of German States minors, so I will pass my copy of this catalog along to friend and fellow numismatist, Doug Nicol, to help with his current work on a third edition of the Standard Catalog of German Coins.

About the AuthorTom Michael has been Krause Publications primary market analyst on more than 80 world and United States coin catalogs produced over the last 20 years. He came to KP in 1987 with a bachelor of arts degree in history, a master of arts degree in economics and a history of coin collecting stretching back to the 1960s. He began collecting world coins as a child by asking friends and relatives to bring coins back from overseas trips, visiting flea markets and having his mother watch for foreign coins in her register at the local grocery store. Today he works with a dedicated base of over 200 contributors to provide accurate market values for the five-volume Standard Catalog of World Coins series, as well as many specialty catalogs, including Coins & Currency of the Middle East and the fifth edition of Unusual World Coins.